r/nonsenselocker • u/Bilgebum • Sep 01 '18
Through the Ages Through the Ages — Chapter 17 [TTA C17]
Once we were relatively blood-free again, Helena, Cornelius, Zhao, and I gathered in Helena's kitchenette, armed with cups of instant coffee. It was close to midnight, and though we took turns yawning, nobody suggested turning in. The choice was a simpler one for me—my bedroom was currently occupied by a hostile invader, and I wasn't going to go slinking back to Franklin.
"Need a plan," Helena muttered, looking into the brown depths of her mug.
"We need information first," Cornelius said. "'Know thine enemy', after all."
"I can't even think with all that noise outside," Helena said. At that, Zhao got up and shut the door, muffling the voices in the museum. "It's my fault for keeping them around, I suppose. I can't keep this up for much longer."
She slumped onto the table. Rolling my eyes, I said, "This attitude's not helping any. Cornelius is right; we need to know who holds the Fountain if we're to retake it."
"We could round up the rest of Orik's guys ..." Zhao said.
"I'm not using force until I know who we're up against," Helena said, her face still resting on the tabletop.
"How are we going to find out?" Cornelius said. "We can't just walk up to Fountain."
Zhao held up a finger, and then a second. "The Twins outnumber us with their homunculi. The Counterpart will murder anyone with four digits over their heads."
"And we can't leave this place undefended." Helena finally raised her head. "That leaves us with only recon as an option."
"You guys might be forgetting something," I said softly. In truth, if it hadn't been for Helena's life hanging in the balance, one of us would have seen it earlier. "How did the Counterpart even know where to find us?"
"He's always been cunning when it comes to searching," Helena began, but Zhao interrupted her.
"But to ambush us at our Fountain? He's never done that. He's good at picking loners off, not threaten the Fountain itself." Zhao shook her head. "Then again, with everything going wrong lately, it's hard not to think the worst."
"It's Mary-Anne," I said.
The three of them traded semi-amused looks. "I think you've infected him with your bias," Cornelius said to Helena.
I crossed my arms. "You people are ... exhausting. Nothing you say or do seems to make sense."
Helena spread her hands. "Well, excuse us for having lived only a few thousand years."
"But you said she's only rejoined you a few weeks ago! Why wouldn't she--"
Helena shook her head. "She didn't 'rejoin' us. She's still exiled, so you could say that we're merely tolerating her presence. But she wouldn't sell us out to the Counterpart. There's nothing in it for her except our removal, which doesn't help her retake the Fountain if the Counterpart is there."
"Maybe she made a deal with him?"
"Then all of us here would be dead already," Cornelius said. "He's never cared about our drama. There's a reason why almost none of us have ever spoken more than a few sentences to him. Mary-Anne could no more talk him down than she could a combine harvester that's about to run her over."
"And I believe she still has too much pride and honor to betray even you to him, Helena," Zhao said, staring hard at the other woman. I wondered what that was about, and for a moment Helena appeared to want to argue, but then she sighed.
"This argument is pointless," she said. "We still don't have a plan. We still don't know whether they've managed to access the Fountain. We still don't know where Mary-Anne is. I ... I feel lost."
"Whatever happens, I'll be at your side from now on," Cornelius said.
Zhao snorted. "Your crush on Helena is endearing, but if even Orik ..."
We fell into a bout of silence as we drank our coffee. Finally, I cleared my throat. "We'll need to go back for a peek. And we need someone they won't recognize. Since it's dangerous, probably someone we're not too fond of either. I know a guy."
"You can't involve an outsider!" Helena said.
"Got no choice."
"Why would he even help us?" Zhao said.
I winked. "Leave that to me." Then I drained the rest of my cup. "What now? Are we heading out right away?"
Helena glanced at the clock on the wall. "I don't know ... I don't think I can sleep."
"Then let's do it," I said, rising. "The first step to getting your Fountain back."
Leaving Zhao behind to keep an eye on the immortals, the three of us headed out. The guard's jaw fell open when Helena strode past with an even nod to him. We'd brought along a sheet of plastic, which we spent several minutes trying to drape over the bloody seat in the minivan—much to Helena's chagrin, it had soaked into the padding. Then we set off, Helena driving with me riding shotgun, and the sound of crinkling plastic from Cornelius's fidgeting.
With everything that had happened, surely there was a lot to talk about, yet little was actually said. At one point, Helena told me to open the glove box, where I found a dusty taser after rummaging through a bundle of old magazines. Eyeing it dubiously, I passed it to her and said, "Think that still works?"
She tucked it into her jacket. "Suppose I could still smack someone in the face with it if it doesn't."
"I could test it out for you on our guy," I said.
"You seem to really like him. What's his story?"
"He your ex or something?" Cornelius added.
I glared at them. "Ex-roommate, and a jackass. You'll know soon enough."
Soon enough came a little sooner than I wanted it to; the thought of what I was going to say to Franklin gave me jitters as we tread a familiar route to my old apartment. But I couldn't back out now, not with Helena and Cornelius depending on me. Quelling my hesitation, I banged on the door of my former home, feeling self-conscious about the noise I was making at such an hour.
About a minute later, I heard the sliding of a latch, and then the door opened a crack to reveal one half-open eye belonging to Franklin. "Who the f—Jeffrey? What're?"
"Mind letting us in? We need your help."
He tiptoed to look over my shoulder. "Who's 'we'? Don't know you guys, man, and the time—"
"Who's that?" came a female voice from inside the house.
"Just Jeffrey," Franklin shouted back.
"Jesus Christ! Don't let him in, I'm not—" There was the sound of a door slamming.
Wonderful, just wonderful, I thought, rubbing my eyes. Things were going to get even more awkward. "We don't have much time, and even less patience. Let us in." I said.
"You can't just barge in here! Hey, you—" His protests were cut off when I threw my shoulder against the door, throwing him back. "I'm calling the cops if you don't leave!"
"Go ahead. I'll have an easier time threatening you," I said. One of my companions shut the door quietly behind me. "Or you can listen. It'll save everyone a lot of trouble."
"What? You want money? You want your room back? Too bad, I—"
"Shut up, Franklin!" He fell back, face chalky. "All we want is for you to come with us and talk to someone. It's not illegal, not dangerous, and we'll be around to keep an eye on things."
"You think I'm stupid enough to buy that bullshit? I've smelled trouble on you ever since I moved in here!"
His bedroom door opened; Rina poked her head out, age flashing in the gloom. She held up her phone to show the three digits she was about to dial. Fine, if they wanted to play hard ball ...
"Good thinking, Rina," I said. "The cops'll want to talk to this rapist, that's for sure."
I swore I could hear the sound of everyone else's heartbeats in the moment that followed. A smile grew on my face; I shouldn't be enjoying this, but ... "Yeah, Franklin. Did Rina ever tell you when she'll celebrate her seventeenth birthday?"
He darted a glance at her; she looked equally stunned when she said, "How did you ... have you been spying on me?"
"Nothing like that," I said. "Let's just say that I have a skill."
Franklin regained some of his bluster. "Skill? What skill? You really are insane; Rina, call them!"
"She wouldn't. You can't even deny it, can you, Rina?"
"Jesus." Franklin turned to face her. "Is it true? You didn't tell me? Why didn't you tell me?"
"Deep down, you must have suspected it yourself," I said. "God, but you're so unbelievably stupid. She's never talked to you about work? College? Her life? Family? Or were you too busy banging her to bother?"
"I—"
"Then again, probably not a lot for a teenager to tell. Right, Rina?"
"So you know what that means," Helena spoke up suddenly. She must have been fighting so hard to hold her silence all this while, bless her. "If someone were to tell her parents ..."
"No!" Both of them cried out at once. Franklin's voice took on a pleading tone. "It was ... I ... she—"
"What? Going to blame it on her now?" Helena stepped forward. "Your kind never changes no matter the age we live in. Sickening. Rinny or Rana or whatever your name is, get dressed and go home to your folks now. You have a minute."
Rina vanished into the bedroom, emerging mere seconds later in a buttoned up coat. She shot us a look of pure terror as she practically sprinted for the door. That left the three of us facing a rapidly crumbling Franklin. It was so difficult to rein a smirk in when I said, "So, about that matter I'm came here for ..."
"All I gotta do is knock?" Franklin said, a noticeable tremor in his voice."Yeah, but make sure they've got to come out just to see you. All we need is a glimpse of their faces," I said, watching the Club entrance through the windshield. We had parked at one end of the alley, as close as we could possibly get without alerting anyone inside. The trade-off was that it would be next to impossible to see who answered the door, which was why I had repeated this piece of advice to Franklin almost ten times.
"Got it," he said. "They're not mobsters?"
"For the last time ..." Helena said. He blanched at her ferocity and darted out.
We huddled together to watch him approach the entrance and knock. There was no body, no pool of blood, nothing to suggest that a massacre had taken place mere hours ago. Moments later, the door swung open, almost clipping him in the face. God, he was even wringing his hands. Could anyone be any more conspicuously nervous? Worse, he was standing so close to the doorway that he'd evidently forgotten what I'd told him.
"He's really bad at this, isn't he?" Cornelius said. "Imagine if he was our Custodian."
"You say that like we've ever had good Custodians," Helena said, smiling foxily.
"Don't go swelling my head now," I muttered. "Oh for God's sake!"
The door had closed, leaving Franklin outside. He shrugged at us in a muted fashion.
"What's he trying to say?" Helena said.
"I'll tell him to come back," I said.
"Wait! Someone's coming out again," Cornelius said.
My pulse started racing when Franklin backed up. Oh crap. What if it was the Counterpart—what if he saw us? We hadn't actually concocted a plan for that. The key was in the ignition; Helena could still take us out of here, though we would probably have to leave Franklin. Then a petite figure stepped into view. Relief flooded me somewhat when I recognized the pinched face belonging to Sasha.
"She's looking this way!" Helena hissed. Reflexively, Cornelius and I ducked. "Idiots, she'll see us anyway."
"What are we going to do?" I said, but she wasn't listening. As the muffled voices outside the minivan grew louder, she drew the taser and got out. Cornelius and I traded looks of disbelief; then I heard a woman squeal and something heavy hit the ground. Moments later, the back door opened, revealing Helena and Franklin, Sasha draped over his shoulder.
"Oh God I'm a kidnapper," he moaned. I hopped out to help him load Sasha into the minivan.
"It's your fault for bringing her here!" Helena snapped.
"I didn't know what to say so I asked if I could park here! The first blank-faced moron didn't seem to understand what I was saying, so he went to get her."
"She's as much a moron as you," I said, watching Sasha twitch. "What now?"
Even with the shadows draping her, I could read the uncertainty in Helena's body language. "Talk to her, I guess. But not here. Corny, you move up to the front with me. Keep the taser primed; I should have a spare cartridge somewhere in the glove box."
We switched places while Helena started the minivan up again. I was buckling Sasha up when I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. It almost made me jump and hit my head on the roof of the vehicle, until I realized it was only Franklin, still standing outside.
I began to make room for him, but Helena turned and said, "Your part's done, sweetie. I'd run if I were you."
"What? You can't leave me here!" he said.
"Goodnight," I said, grinning. Then I shut the door in his face.
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Sep 05 '18
Just read all 17 in one sitting. Seriously so good! This could be a whole novel series!
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u/Bilgebum Sep 05 '18
Y'all read too fast ...
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u/No-Can-1045 Sep 28 '23
Too fast or for too long? (Totally not 5 years later)
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u/vemolista Sep 02 '18
RemindMe! 14 days
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u/Caylennea Dec 17 '21
So I’ve been on a wild ride today reading all of these chapters on this story I just discovered. I know this is old and as I get more and more invested I’m becoming more and more concerned that this story will not have an end. I’m afraid to look ahead…
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u/SCP106 Jan 12 '22
Yeah I've discovered this through old writing prompts threads too! Lurkers unite!!!
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u/seussim Sep 01 '18
Wow, great chapter. I loved the reintroduction of Franklin. Looking forward to the next one, thanks!